Making the Biggest West Coast Kentucky Derby Celebration Even Bigger, Kendall-Jackson Adds Star-Studded Friday Night Concert to its Weekend Events
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (March 22, 2023) – Kendall-Jackson, the Preferred Wine of the Kentucky Derby, today announced a weekend of local celebrations for the 2023 Kentucky Derby at Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens. The festivities will kick off Friday, May 5, with a concert by multi-platinum selling, CMA & ACM Award winning and GRAMMY nominated country music star Jimmie Allen, followed by the largest West Coast watch party of the 149th Run for the Roses®, on Saturday, May 6.
Last year, Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens welcomed 1,200 attendees fashionably dressed in Derby attire to experience the West Coast’s largest Kentucky Derby watch party and celebration. This year, the 2nd Annual Derby Weekend is poised to draw an even larger crowd. New and returning guests will celebrate “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports®” with a weekend of activities including Allen’s highly anticipated performance on Friday, May 5, followed by a full day of entertainment and unmatched culinary and wine experiences on Saturday, May 6. Event proceeds from the weekend will benefit Farm to Pantry: Cultivating Community Through Healthy Food. Tickets can be purchased via Tock, with special pricing offered for wine club members.
Friday night’s kick-off concert with Jimmie Allen may feature the country star’s biggest hits, which include four #1 songs – “Down Home,” Make Me Want To,” “Freedom Was A Highway” and “Best Shot.” Gates open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Culinary offerings will be provided by local food trucks and beverage options include Jackson Family Wines’ portfolio of Sonoma County wines featuring Kendall-Jackson, as well as drinks from Seismic Brewing Company and Golden State Cider.
“I’m looking forward to kicking off Kendall-Jackson’s Kentucky Derby weekend in Sonoma County,” said Allen. “I know that playing a show in the heart of Wine Country will be a great experience for me and my fans. See y’all there!”
The fun continues Saturday, May 6, from 11:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Pacific with Derby Day festivities including a large-screen viewing of the races, fashion contests, an on-site milliner creating unique hats and Derby-inspired Southern cuisine paired with award-winning Kendall-Jackson wines. Iconic Mint Juleps will be served as Young & Yonder Spirits, an artisan craft distillery from Healdsburg, showcases their Straight Bourbon Whiskey in signature cocktails. Other local food and beverage offerings will include Seismic Brewing Company, Golden State Cider, and small bites from various local restaurant partners. Additional entertainment will include betting tips from Twin Spires, the online horse-betting app, a raffle, live music, bugle player, coffee truck, a caricature artist and more.
To purchase tickets to the Kentucky Derby Weekend at Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens, please visit www.kj.com or directly via Tock.
ABOUT KENDALL-JACKSON
Kendall-Jackson is one of America’s most beloved family-owned and operated wineries. The winery’s flagship wine, the Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, has been America’s favorite Chardonnay since 1992. Founded by entrepreneur and visionary Jess Jackson in 1982, and now led by his wife Barbara Banke and the Jackson family, Kendall-Jackson is based in Sonoma County and offers a range of acclaimed wines grown on the family’s estate vineyards along the coastal ridges of California. Kendall-Jackson is the benchmark for sustainable wine endeavors, setting the precedent for advancement in solar, water, and vineyard practices. Wine Enthusiast Magazine recently named Kendall-Jackson the 2017 American Winery of the Year, one of the wine industry’s most distinguished accolades. Recognized as a leader in the industry for more than three decades, Kendall-Jackson has built a reputation centered around consistent, high-quality wines that are available nationwide in national grocery stores, boutique wine retailers, and restaurants. Learn more online at www.kj.com, and follow Kendall-Jackson on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
ABOUT KENTUCKY DERBY
The $3 million Kentucky Derby takes place on the first Saturday in May at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Inaugurated in 1875, the legendary 1 ¼-mile race for 3-year-olds is the oldest continuously held major sporting event in the United States and the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown series. Known as “The Run for the Roses,” “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” and “America’s Race,” the Kentucky Derby is the most attended horse race in the nation.
ABOUT JIMMIE ALLEN
Signed to BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records, multi-platinum recording artist and songwriter Jimmie Allen has been blazing trails since the beginning of his breakout career. Allen was nominated for Best New Artist at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards, his first ever GRAMMY nomination. He was also nominated for Male Artist of the Year nominee at the 57th ACM Awards and Outstanding New Artist nominee at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards. Allen launched his career with two consecutive No. 1 hits off his 2018 debut album Mercury Lane (which The New York Times dubbed as one of 2018’s strongest) – the first being his RIAA 2x Platinum debut single “Best Shot,” which claimed the No. 1 spot on Country radio for three weeks, and second being Platinum-certified “Make Me Want To.” In July 2020, Allen released his star-studded collaboration project Bettie James that garnered a slew of critical acclaim for the music, the historic nature of various collaborations, and its subsequent place in country music history. Named for his late grandmother, Bettie Snead, and late father, James Allen, Bettie James has been hailed as an “announcement of [Allen’s] arrival” and a “huge step for country” (NPR), and “a powerful statement from a developing voice” (Billboard). On June 25, 2021, Allen released the project’s follow up album Bettie James Gold Edition. Doubling down on Allen’s expansive love for music across genres, the album “broadens country’s borders” (Billboard) and includes nine brand new songs featuring Babyface, BRELAND, Keith Urban, LANCO, Lathan Warlick, Lindsay Ell, Little Big Town, LOCASH, Monica, Neon Union, Pitbull, teamwork. and Vikina in addition to the previous collaborations on Bettie James with Brad Paisley, Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, Mickey Guyton, Nelly, Noah Cyrus, The Oak Ridge Boys, Rita Wilson, Tauren Wells and Tim McGraw. His single “Freedom Was A Highway” with Paisley went #1 in February 2022. Allen won the both the ACM New Male Artist of the Year award and CMA New Artist of the Year award in April and November 2021, respectively. He has amassed more than 1 billion on-demand streams and is a current member of the 45th Kennedy Center Honors Artists Committee. Allen has graced the cover of Billboard Magazine and performed on The Kennedy Center Honors, Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Good Morning America, TODAY, American Idol, Tamron Hall Show, Nick Cannon, The Steve Harvey Show, ACM Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Music Awards, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and more. He has also enthusiastically ventured into the world of hosting, having co-hosted the 57th ACM Awards alongside Dolly Parton & Gabby Barrett and New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash on CBS in 2022 with Elle King and Rachel Smith. Much like his approach to music, Allen’s other creative pursuits know no boundaries. His debut picture book, My Voice Is a Trumpet – a powerful story about speaking up for what you believe in, at any age – was published in July 2021 with Flamingo Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. Allen also serves as Executive Music Producer for Netflix’s series Titletown High, which premiered globally in August 2021; his song “Big In A Small Town” is the theme song for the series. He reached the quarterfinals as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars’ landmark 30th season on ABC in Fall 2021. In February 2022, Allen embarked on his Down Home Tour 2022, his first headline tour. He is currently on Carrie Underwood’s The Denim & Rhinestones Tour as special guest on all 43 U.S. arena dates through Spring 2023. Allen’s third album, Tulip Drive – named for the street in Lewes, DE that his late grandmother lived on – was released June 2022. Its lead single “down home” reached the top of the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart in January 2023, marking Allen’s fourth career No. 1 song. For more information on Allen, visit www.jimmieallenmusic.comor follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
